Transcript

2.
• “The important thing in science is not so much
to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of
thinking about them.” – Sir William Bragg
Coach Greg Maurer

3.
History of the Pose Method
• Founded in 1977 by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
• No Commonly Accepted Model of Teaching
Running
• Thousands of runners analyzed to isolate
commonalities (Pose-Fall-Pull) among all
runners
– The framework of the Pose Method is not about
what all runners do differently, but what they all
do the same
• Pose Method provides a new way to look at
movement and running!
Coach Greg Maurer

4.
Perception – Skill Development
• Pose teaches that this should be the central
focus of all training programs
• With amateur athletes, focusing on skill
development alone can yield significant
improvement (Drills & Exercises)
• With elite athletes, skill development may be
the only thing left to train to keep them sharp
and prepared in their chosen sport
Coach Greg Maurer

5.
Elements of Movement
• Every movement consists of key
Pose(s)/Postures that define the movement
• Precise Body Weight Application &
Unweighting
• Followed by a focused and deliberate Action
(like ‘Pull’) in a compound movement that
initiates a Change of Support
Coach Greg Maurer

7.
Movement in the Pose Method
• Movement is changing direction and speed of a specific object
relative to the existing movement.
• Movement is the result of force.
• The force is a magnitude of interaction between material
bodies.
• One outcome of force is an acceleration of the body.
• The nature of the forces defines the nature of movement.
• In the Pose Method® gravity is prioritized as the primary force
for movement.
Coach Greg Maurer

11.
Transformation of
Energy
• Gravity is a Constant
force and a source of
acceleration
• All forces on Earth are
derivatives of gravity
• In fact in a low Gravity
environment like the
moon - muscles do not
work well at all!!
Coach Greg Maurer

12.
Strength Development in Pose Model
• Recognizes the body has to absorb three - five
times body weight on one leg repeatedly
• Therefore strength development is a major
priority!
• In order to run faster, you must get stronger
• However from a Pose Perspective strength does
not so much create horizontal movement, it
allows the athlete to change the direction and
speed of movement which is initiated by gravity!
Coach Greg Maurer

13.
Teaching Model
• Standard, and Deviations from the Standard
• Standard Elements of Running
– Pose
• Common Deviations: Arrive late into the Pose Position
– Fall
• Common Deviations: Bending at the waist, not falling
forward, running with the legs only (like on a treadmill!)
– Pull
• Common Deviations: Full extension of the trail leg
(indicates late pull), Cadence is not fast enough
Coach Greg Maurer

14.
Teaching Model
• Pose Concepts – Hierarchy of Movement
– All forces on Earth are derivatives of gravity
– Role of Forces
– Action Cue
• Perceive that you are pulling your foot off the ground
before you actually land on the ground
– Like loading a spring, to maximize effectiveness of Stretch-
Shortening Cycle
Coach Greg Maurer

15.
Pose focuses on the three components
present in all running and runners
Page 15
Cardio | Strength | Power |
Balance
7/24/2014
• Three non-variable essential elements: Pose (Mid-Stance) Fall and Pull
• All runners display these three elements, and a key to improving running form
is increasing perception of the Pose, Fall, and Pull and improving the timing
of these three elements in relation to one another during running!
The Running Pose is a whole body pose, which vertically aligns shoulders, hips and
ankles with the support leg, while standing on the ball of the foot. This creates an S-like
shape of the body. The runner then changes the pose from one leg to the other by
falling forward and allowing gravity to do the work. The support foot is pulled from the
ground to allow the body to fall forward while the other foot drops down freely in a
change of support.

17.
The Running Pose
• AKA “Mid-Stance”
• All runners go through this position in some
variation. It is unavoidable.
• This is the fundamental position of power and
potential energy where we load the muscles
eccentrically as the beginning of the Stretch
Shortening Cycle
• Time on Support aka time in Pose
– Shorter Time = Fewer Injuries and Higher Speed
Coach Greg Maurer

21.
Prevent Injuries (Running Pose)
• Primary goal with any skillful
activity is to avoid getting
injured
• Most injuries occur from
contact to the Pose
• The further ahead of the body
the foot lands, the longer the
support time, which exposes
the joints, ligaments, and
tendons to an excessive
amount of load
• The quicker we get in and out
of the Pose position, the fewer
injuries we will have and the
faster we will run!
Coach Greg Maurer

27.
Falling
“ Motion is created by the destruction of
balance, that is, of equality of weight, for
nothing can move by itself, which does not
leave its state of balance, and that thing
moves most rapidly, which is furthest from its
balance. …of the motion and course of
animals. That figure will appear swiftest in its
course, which is about to fall forward.”
-Leonardo da Vinci
Coach Greg Maurer

30.
Role of Arms in Speed/Acceleration
• Most people can achieve great arm drive while running
in place, but by itself it does it does not directly
contribute to acceleration or running speed
• Arm movement is necessary to provide balance and
MUST stay in sync with leg movement to be helpful.
• Proper arm swing - maintaining a shorter lever by NOT
extending the elbow is ONE factor in running speed but
it is NOT one the most important factors – fall angle is!
Coach Greg Maurer

32.
Cadence and Running Speed
• Like stride length there IS a relationship between
running speed and cadence.
• However cadence and stride length increase as
running speed increases and are NOT the cause
of higher running speed but rather an outcome of
higher running speed which comes from fall
angle!
• If someone is running properly cadence and/or
stride length will increase in response to
increased fall angle automatically!
Coach Greg Maurer

34.
Pull
• In Pose the pull is the main “Active” element
element in running
– Falling is passive – all you have to do is keep the body
aligned
– And landing is reflexive using the SSC
• We pull at the end of the fall to recover the Pose
position and repeat the process again
• This is where active muscle efforts play the
greatest role
• How high we pull the foot under the hips is
determined by our fall angle and speed – higher
speed = higher, faster pull.
Coach Greg Maurer

35.
Push-Off
• The premise is that, using
the muscles in the trail
leg, the runner will push
off the ground and propel
the body forward
• The main caveat is that
maximum push-off can be
achieved in the vertical
direction with almost NO
BENEFIT in the horizontal
direction
Coach Greg Maurer

37.
Extensors Paradox
• In 1990, a study was done to test the the level
of muscle activity in the extensor muscles at
the moment the trail leg would be used to
“Push Off” the ground to propel the body
forward
• The results indicated, unequivocally, that at
that particular moment, the extensor muscles
were completely inactive
Coach Greg Maurer

39.
Kugler, F., Janshen, L., (2009), Journal of
Biomechanics, “Body Position Determines
Propulsive Forces in Accelerated Running.”
• “Higher acceleration during running is mainly
attained by applying similar forces to the ground at
greater forward leans and not by simply applying
greater forces”. The reason for the low resultant
ground reaction forces during acceleration is the
dominant vertical force component which will
become detrimental when greater forces are
applied. Subjects with superior acceleration
performance placed the foot further posterior
(relative to the CM) at initial contact…” 14
Coach Greg Maurer

40.
Pistons Analogy
• Common Error is to reach for
landing with the swing leg –
do NOT focus on landing!!!
• Another error is focusing on
pounding feet into the
ground. Rather focus on
pulling the foot from ground
to under the hip since YOU
MUST pull the support foot
first!
• Think of legs as pistons with
an inverse relationship
• Before one leg can land, the
support leg must come off
the ground
– Pulling the support leg is the
initiator of the action
Coach Greg Maurer

41.
Cadence and the Pull
• The minimum cadence to effectively use the SSC
is 180 steps per minute
• So many runners have cadence that is too slow
and will benefit from deliberately doing running
intervals at a higher cadence.
• Strategy for increasing cadence is to focus on the
pull NOT push-off which is passive and involving
the SSC and occurs automatically.
• After a 12 week period of adaptation to the
increased cadence research has shown:
– Up to a 50% increase in mechanical efficiency
– Up to a 20% decrease in Oxygen consumption
Coach Greg Maurer

42.
No Active Push-Off in Running
• Ground Reaction Forces mostly provide the
vertical support and friction that allow runners to
fall through a usable range of anywhere past 0°
up to 22.5° [12], without slipping [13].
• What’s more, ground reaction is about the same
for faster runners as for slower runners [14], at the
same lean angles. Faster runners just fall through
a greater range. Plus, maximum horizontal
acceleration occurs before peak posterior ground
reaction [15].
Coach Greg Maurer

43.
Paw Back
• The main premise has
been that you can actively
land out ahead of your
body and, using friction,
pull yourself through the
stride and thrust your
body forward into the
next stride.
• No amount of muscular
effort can pull the body
forward faster than the
momentum of the body
while running
Coach Greg Maurer

44.
Knee Drive
• In Pose the focus on actively
flexing the hip to recover the
rear leg is replaced with a
focus on “Pulling” the foot
directly under the hips and
attempting to pull the foot
BEFORE it hits the ground (not
possible of course!)
• This shortens the lever
allowing MUCH less energy to
pull the leg forward which
happens via the stretch-
shortening cycle through the
hip flexors which requires no
“active” pulling by the hip
flexors!
Coach Greg Maurer

46.
Starting Blocks
• Let’s look at how Pose views the start of
Sprint out of the blocks.
• We start with four points of contact
–Lets assume for arguments sake that each
point of contact has 25% of our body weight
on it
Coach Greg Maurer

48.
GO!!!
• In an instance, 2 points of our support are
gone and 100% of our body weight is now on
our feet
– This will lead to an increase in the force graph
reaction of the starting blocks – this WILL happen
automatically regardless of whether you push-off
or not!
Coach Greg Maurer

50.
First Step out of the blocks
• The back leg begins to move into position for our
first step
– Now all of our body weight is concentrated on one
leg, this will further lead to an increase in the force
graph reaction of the starting blocks
– Additionally, our swing leg is approximately 20% of
our body mass; it’s rotation at the hip and swinging
forward into position comes at the expense of our
general center of mass moving forward
– For our swing leg to move forward our GCM must be
the support and thus creates a force opposite the
direction of the swing leg, into the starting blocks
Coach Greg Maurer

56.
In Conclusion
• All of the preceding factors contribute to an
increase in the force reaction graph out of the
starting blocks, not necessarily the presence of an
active push-off in the way it is taught traditionally
• Pose contends that what the athlete really needs
to focus on is pulling the rear leg forward to catch
his falling body and that the increased fall angle –
NOT a better pushing position results in greater
horizontal speed!
Coach Greg Maurer

62.
Anatomy of a Stride
Joints Absorb Impact
Excess Strain on Knee
The Running Pose
Mid-Foot StrikeHeel Strike Pose Position Falling
The degree of falling
forward determines
your running speed
Falling in the Pose
Position is the most
efficient way to run
faster
Moving the swing leg
forward slows you
down
Pumping of arms does
not directly contribute
to forward movement
Running FasterCoach Greg Maurer

68.
Usain Bolt Facts
• World Record 100m was 9.58 seconds
• His maximum angle of falling was 21.5°
– Also, not the highest in the field – so potentially has
more speed available
• His cadence in the world-record run was 257
steps per minute (spm)
– Cadence for sprinters up to 330 so if he increases fall
angle cadence has room to go up!
• He was the tallest competitor at 6’5”
– Ten (10) centimeter advantage in leg length
– To a certain extent, height lends itself to sprinting
Coach Greg Maurer

75.
Kinematic factors affecting fast and slow straight and change-
of-direction acceleration times. J Strength Cond Res
• What differentiated the faster sprinters from the slower ones?
– First, more steps led to faster sprints. And a tiny difference
went a long way. Just an extra quarter step over the 2.5-meters
differentiated the fastest sprinters. I’m reminded of a coach who
once told me, “You can’t move forward with your feet in the air.”
– Next, shorter step length led to faster sprints. This makes sense
when paired with the first tip - more steps. For any given
distance, adding more steps means each step will be shorter.
– Torso angle was the next predictor of sprint success. Leaning
forward just two degrees extra made the difference between
the slowest and fastest sprints.
– Finally, the actual first step of the sprint was critical. Athletes
who showed less knee lift in the first step turned in faster
sprints. Less knee lift means a faster step, which means more
steps.
Coach Greg Maurer

76.
Positive and Negative Transfer
• Drills are used to improve perception of certain
elements of a skill.
• As such a drill or exercise can have three possible
effects on the actual skill you are trying to
improve:
– Results in improved perception and skill execution - in
the scientific literature this is known as "positive
transfer“
– Results in no change in perception and skill execution
– Results in decreased perception and/or decreased skill
execution - in the scientific literature this is known as
"negative transfer"
Coach Greg Maurer

77.
Examples of Positive and Negative
Transfer
• Playing squash actually interferes with the skill of
hitting a tennis ball
• Using a weighted bat or weighted ball too much
DECREASES skill performance with a real bat or
ball
• When a skier tries to use their upper body to turn
the skis we have them place their poles behind
their back through their elbows so it is very
difficult and noticeable when they try to rotate
the upper body. While skiers hate this drill it
always improves their skill performance by NOT
allowing them to make the error
Coach Greg Maurer

78.
Designing Effective Skill Drills
• Effective drills:
– heighten perception of a mistake
– and/or do not allow the athlete to make certain
mistakes
– and/or exaggerate mistakes so that the athlete
perceives the error kinesthetically!
• Until the athlete can you perceive an error he
cannot eliminate it!
• So we should always think about what is being
transferred by a drill to the actual skill!
Coach Greg Maurer

79.
Negative Transfer
from Treadmill Running
• Because the belt is moving at
the runner they tend to land
with the foot ahead of the body
and also on the heel which is
reinforcing the single biggest
running error possible!
• For the same reason people
cannot fall forward on a
treadmill!
• People tend to extend stride
length and slow cadence on a
treadmill
Coach Greg Maurer

80.
Sproing emphasizes Pose/Fall/Pull!
• Pose/Mid-stance - improves perception and
stability due to soft surface that increases
stability challenge and demands more focus
• Fall - rear restraint system allows athlete to
safely fall into belt. Allows trainer to coach
athlete to NOT bend forward from waist
rather than full body lean. Also allows athlete
to experience different fall angles safely.
• Pull - because of the soft surface athlete must
pull harder to get the foot from the surface
(particularly on softer settings).
Coach Greg Maurer

81.
Sproing eliminates negative running habits
• Landing with foot in front of the body and worse yet on the heel in front
of the body - is almost impossible to do on Sproing.
• Overstriding – simply cannot occur on Sproing.
• Cadence to Slow – Sproing tends to naturally increase cadence because
Speed is a direct function of cadence on Sproing so people quickly learn to
increase cadence in order to increase speed.
• Failure to full body fall/lean and tendency to bend forward from the waist
- this error usually occurs because of an unconscious fear of falling.
Sproing allows a person to feel completely safe doing a full body lean/fall
and it is very easy to coach this while the person is running.
• Inappropriate arm swing such as extending and flexing elbow while running
- very easy to coach this while the person is running
• Runner trying to push into ground and driving knee up and forward with
hip flexors - a trained Pose Coach can easily see and correct this bad habit
while a person is running.
Coach Greg Maurer

82.
Coaching Running on Sproing
• Hook-up and get person into forward full
body lean WITHOUT bending at waist
• Start person walking, then marching
with exaggerated arm swing, then jog,
then run -- instructor faces client and
mirrors desired activity.
• Insure person maintains full body lean
• Have them go faster and slower while
watching their speed and cadence to see
and feel the difference.
• If arms move with legs as opposed to in
opposition tell person to relax arms at
side and march or jog WITHOUT focusing
on arm swing and they will tend to
automatically pick up the correct pattern
of opposition.
Coach Greg Maurer

83.
Coaching Running on Sproing
• Look for knee drive (particularly high knee drive)
because it fatigues people too rapidly. Pull heel
directly under the hip.
• Look for pulling heels up behind body which is also
wrong.
• Rate of perceived exertion will be high initially
because it is novel and new motor pattern but the
RPE will drop with time and practice.
• Remember -all runners improve with higher
speed/cadence so get them to a brisk pace without
a high heel lift to avoid fatigue at first.
• As with all skill work it is essential to train in an
interval pattern avoiding fatigue and allowing lots
of recovery between drills and efforts when
working on the skill of running -- remember this is
NOT conditioning!!!!
Coach Greg Maurer